Façade Improvements Considered for Hobby Lobby Site

Though a timeframe has not yet been set for when a , trustees are poised to approve façade improvements later this month.

Trustees agreed Wednesday night to have staff draft an ordinance that would allow the front façade design, which includes raising the entrance canopy to a height of 34 feet and removing the solarium located east of the main entrance. The ordinance would also allow the placement of a loading dock behind the building.

In a press release issued Aug. 13, Inland Real Estate Corporation officials revealed that a lease "was signed with Hobby Lobby for 46,984 square feet at the Hawthorn Village Commons shopping center in Vernon Hills."

"The addition of Hobby Lobby brings a national tenant to the local community and helps create a well-balanced mix of specialty, local and national retailers at the Hawthorn Village Commons shopping center," Mike Fitzgerald, director of leasing for Inland Real Estate Corporation, said in the press release.

Building Commissioner Michael Atkinson said the existing canopy on the building will remain, which gives the building some architectural dimension. The existing windows on the store, other than the solarium windows, will remain.